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As early as late 1926, Universal Studios was ready to start production on Show Boat. An item in the Jan 1927 Photoplay noted that filming would "soon start" with Mary Philbin, Norman Kerry, and Jean Hersholt. However, none of the three was involved in the final film.
According to a directory chart in the 11 Aug 1928 Exhibitors Herald and Moving Picture World, production began 16 Jul 1928.
Universal Pictures acquired the rights to the Jerome Kern-Oscar Hammerstein score after the film had been shot as a part-talking drama. Several scenes were then reshot to include songs, and an eighteen-minute sound prologue was added. The prologue included short speeches by Carl Laemmle and Florenz Ziegfeld and songs from the stage production were performed by Helen Morgan, Jules Bledsoe and Tess "Aunt Jemima" Gardella. Two other filmed versions of the play were made, in 1936 and 1951 (see entries below). Show Boat marked the motion picture debut of singer-actress Helen Morgan (1900--1941). Morgan also appeared as "Julie LaVerne" in the 1936 Show Boat . (For additional information about Morgan’s life, please consult the entry below for the 1957 biographical film The Helen Morgan Story ). ...
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As early as late 1926, Universal Studios was ready to start production on Show Boat. An item in the Jan 1927 Photoplay noted that filming would "soon start" with Mary Philbin, Norman Kerry, and Jean Hersholt. However, none of the three was involved in the final film.
According to a directory chart in the 11 Aug 1928 Exhibitors Herald and Moving Picture World, production began 16 Jul 1928.
Universal Pictures acquired the rights to the Jerome Kern-Oscar Hammerstein score after the film had been shot as a part-talking drama. Several scenes were then reshot to include songs, and an eighteen-minute sound prologue was added. The prologue included short speeches by Carl Laemmle and Florenz Ziegfeld and songs from the stage production were performed by Helen Morgan, Jules Bledsoe and Tess "Aunt Jemima" Gardella. Two other filmed versions of the play were made, in 1936 and 1951 (see entries below). Show Boat marked the motion picture debut of singer-actress Helen Morgan (1900--1941). Morgan also appeared as "Julie LaVerne" in the 1936 Show Boat . (For additional information about Morgan’s life, please consult the entry below for the 1957 biographical film The Helen Morgan Story ).
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Brought up on a showboat, Magnolia Hawks, the star of her family's river-going revue, marries Gaylord Ravenal, a charming river gambler. Magnolia's father, Captain Andy, is swept overboard in a storm, and Magnolia and Gaylord, harassed by Magnolia's strict, overbearing mother, sell their interest in the showboat to the widow and go to Chicago. Gaylord loses the money at the gambling tables, and, following the suggestion of Magnolia's mother, leaves his family, convinced that they would be better off without him. To support herself and her child, Magnolia goes on the variety stage and makes a success singing Negro spirituals. Magnolia's mother dies, and Magnolia returns to the showboat to be reunited with the reformed ...
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Brought up on a showboat, Magnolia Hawks, the star of her family's river-going revue, marries Gaylord Ravenal, a charming river gambler. Magnolia's father, Captain Andy, is swept overboard in a storm, and Magnolia and Gaylord, harassed by Magnolia's strict, overbearing mother, sell their interest in the showboat to the widow and go to Chicago. Gaylord loses the money at the gambling tables, and, following the suggestion of Magnolia's mother, leaves his family, convinced that they would be better off without him. To support herself and her child, Magnolia goes on the variety stage and makes a success singing Negro spirituals. Magnolia's mother dies, and Magnolia returns to the showboat to be reunited with the reformed Gaylord.
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Seventy-year-old newspaper tycoon Charles Foster Kane dies in his palatial Florida home, Xanadu, after uttering the single word “Rosebud.” While watching a newsreel summarizing the years during which Kane ... >>

The American Film Institute is grateful to Sir Paul Getty KBE and the Sir Paul Getty KBE Estate for their dedication to the art of the moving image and their support for the
AFI Catalog of Feature Films and without whose support AFI would not have been able to achieve this historical landmark in this epic scholarly endeavor.